Black and White Chapter 1
by Sandpuppeteer
Summary: After an accident in his Dad's lab, Danny finds himself in a rather tight situation that his ghost powers can't help him out of.


"Danny! Come down here! I want you to see my newest invention," Jack Fenton called up the basement stairs. Although it wasn't the basement of a typical family. Then again, the Fenton's weren't your stereotypical family.  
Danny groaned, dropping his half-eaten toast onto it's plate. For once, he thought he'd get off to school without any trouble--he'd even got out of bed in time. "Okay, Dad!" he called down as he stood up.  
A dim, green light illuminated the stairwell. Never a good thing. The basement itself wasn't exactly the safest place to be, after all. What with all of the ghost related gizmos all over the tables and shelves. Not to mention the eight foot tall construction in the back wall, a portal to the ghost world. A contraption that caused Danny to possess his uncommon abilities. "This better be quick," Danny grumbled as he reached the bottom. "Dad?"  
"Over here, son!" the voice came from behind a pile of junk on the other side of the room, from the same direction as the green glow.  
Danny stepped around the junk laden table to find his dad with a large grin plastered under his goggles. The illumination's source was the open end of a wrist thick hose. The opposite end of the two foot length affixed to a large, metal box, adorned with a multitude of dials, switches and lights.  
"What's this?" Danny laughed. "Cleaning up after that ghost dog that came through last week?" He picked up the hose, looking at the lighted end.  
"Careful with that!" Jack reached for it. As he lunched, his non- reaching hand caught one of the switches on the box. A stream of what could have been electrically charged lime jello struck Danny in the face. Such an ectoplasmic blast wouldn't have much effect on a normal person, but Danny wasn't normal. He cried out as it's force hit him and spread through his body with a weird tingle. Soon, he was enveloped in a halo of noncorporeal green slime.  
"Shut it off! Shut it off!"  
"Calm down, Danny. You should know by now that it can't hurt you. Now...where's that reverse?" Jack lifted his goggles as he studied the box. "Ah! Here we are!" Dropping the protective eyewear back in place, he pointed the hose at Danny and hit one of the many switches. A gurgling, squishing sound erupted from the machine followed by the shuddering groan of shifting gears.  
The green goop slurped back into the machine with the sound of retrieving the final drops of a dying soda through a straw. As it left his body, Danny could feel it tugging something else with it. The last bit left him and he fell to his knees, panting.  
"Hmm...maybe the suction is up a little high..." Jack said, peering into the hose.  
Danny pushed himself to his feet. "What is that thing?"  
"My newest invention. I've heard possessions are getting more frequent these days. Been happening all over. You never know if your teacher, your best friend, or even your own family could be possessed! And this little baby will suck the ghosts right out of them."  
"Aren't people going to be a little suspicious when you start shooting them with green goo?"  
"This baby is harmless to humans. Just effects ghosts inside people." He patted the boxy contraption. The machine spurted out a belch, throwing a wad of the glowey green stuff into Jack's face. "Maybe I shouldn't have made it so sensitive."  
"Right, Dad. I gotta go to school now." He made for the stairs before Jack could ask for his help.  
"Okay, Son!" He turned to the machine, cleaning his head of the mess. "Now...how do I go about sealing the ghosts inside?"  
  
Danny strolled down the hall of Casper High, flanked by his two best friends. As usual, Tucker talked. Danny tried to listen, but he just couldn't keep his mind on it. Should he tell them or not? It might be nothing, after all. Maybe he just felt weird because he was part ghost. Of course, he thought. It effects a ghost that's inside a person, not a person that is a ghost, sort of.  
"Hey Danny, you okay?" Sam asked. "You haven't said a word since we got here."  
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Just tired, you know?" He lied, "I had to kick a little ghost tail in Dad's lab last night." That was a daily occurrence, but he didn't want to worry his friends with what could be a meaningless, and very common, accident in his dad's lab.  
They reached Danny's locker first, where Dash already awaited them. The blonde jock leaned against the locker in question, grinning maliciously at the trio.  
Danny sighed. "Dash, I--"  
"Fenton! Just the man I was waiting for. Here, let me open your locker for you." He yanked the door open, stepping to the side.  
"How did you know my combination?"  
"I have connections, in the main office."  
Danny could imagine the scrawny, student office aid crammed so deep into a trash bin that only his feet and head poked above the rim, with a towering Dash demanding the specified combination.  
Danny moved forward, cautions of Dash's intentions. He felt Sam's slender hand rest on his arm, as if to stop him. But he knew he needed to stand up to this jock some day or another. "Dash, you--"  
But Dash spoke over the smaller boy. "You look like you need some help getting your books, Fenton."  
Before Danny knew it, the bully grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him head first into the locker. Being of small stature, and only a freshman, he was easily manipulated by the bully's meaty hands to fit into the confined space. Laughing maniacally, Dash slammed the door shut. Darkness washed over the inside, painted by only three thin slits of lights. He signed, "I guess I gotta go ghost..." He urged himself into his alternate form to leave the locker.  
Nothing happened. No white hair. No shift into black jumpsuit and white gloves. No ghost. Just plain, normal Danny, crammed into a locker. He should have changed. He'd learned to control it well enough by now that it should be simple as blinking. Or so he thought.  
"Why can't I change?" He muttered to himself. He tried again, closing his eyes to get a better focus. He need to go ghost, just long enough to get out of that locker he'd seen the inside of so many times. Still nothing.  
"Um...Sam? Tuck?" Danny called out, "I think we have a problem." 


End file.
